


An Unusual Visitor

by jellyfishfics



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Friendship, I JUST WANT THEM TO TALK ABOUT THEIR PAST OK LET ME HAVE THIS, M/M, Pining, Post Season 7, THEY CAN'T JUST EYEFUCK FOREVER, this is really just a general keith fic where james just happens to show up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-13
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-06-26 16:54:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15667353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jellyfishfics/pseuds/jellyfishfics
Summary: Keith sees someone unexpected waiting in front of his father's grave.





	An Unusual Visitor

**Author's Note:**

> Ah, yes. I would also like some of this "Jeans Keith." (jeith)

On his free days, Keith likes to visit his father’s grave. 

The long weeks of reconstruction and integration of the Voltron Coalition to Earth are finally ending, with great success. Keith has mostly been holed up with his mother and Kolivan in the old house he used to share with his Dad, turning it into the new Blade of Marmora base. It’s still weird to Keith to see that big house so lively with Blades now, when it always felt empty with just him and his Dad. Even when he had been kicked out of the Garrison, he couldn’t stomach squatting in that house alone, and couch-surfed in their abandoned shack instead.

But soon, Keith will have to move back onto the Garrison to continue his work with Voltron (and hopefully graduate to pilot status since Iverson insists on calling him “cadet”). Though he’ll be lonely, part of him is relieved since their house is a little more than bursting full with his Mom, Kolivan, the remaining Blades, and Acxa. Keith has been sharing his parents’ bed with Krolia in an effort to ensure that everyone has somewhere soft to sleep, and though it isn’t embarrassing for a kid to share a bed with his Mom, Keith has never been used to skin ship apart from his late father, and he’s kind of an adult. Cuddling with his Mom at this age can’t be cool, even if it feels nice. Krolia has a habit of hugging Keith in her sleep too, and Acxa has on more than one occasion walked in on a still sleeping Krolia squeezing Keith awake. _That_ was embarrassing to say the least, and Keith doesn’t want any other Blades to see such a scene.

So, when Keith doesn’t have to commute by hoverbike to the Garrison, he walks his wolf (that he refuses to call “Cosmo”) to the cemetery to visit his Dad. Keith can tell that his buddy is getting tired of the same walk pattern, since he always bounds ahead and looks back at Keith, flicking his ears impatiently. When they move onto Garrison grounds, Keith will find more wolf friendly places to take him.

For now, Keith takes his time, breathing deep as he walks. He’s always enjoyed the air of the cemetery, since there’s plenty of trees and thick, tall grass around. It’s uncharacteristic for the overall wasteland he lives in, and when he was kid, Keith would forage around for wildflowers and lay them at his Dad’s grave. 

Sometimes, Keith catches his mother here on her own, wearing his father’s jacket and staring the headstone down, as if challenging it. Keith wishes Krolia had been as fortunate as he was in bringing a loved one back to life, but neither of them are alone anymore. Keith figures his Dad is patient enough to wait for them a while longer.

Kolivan has even stopped by once to pay his respects, though he had been misinformed about Earth customs and brought a dozen roses with him.

There was even that weird instance after the first time Keith and Krolia visited the grave together once he had been discharged from the hospital, and Keith nearly jumped out of his skin at seeing Acxa just _watching_ them from behind a tree.

But today, Keith thinks this is the strangest situation he’s found himself in while visiting his departed father. Because crouched in front of his Dad’s grave, pulling weeds, is _James Griffin._

Keith blinks once, twice, _three times to be sure_ that he isn’t seeing things. Why would James be here? Is he a part-time groundskeeper for the cemetery?

“James?” Keith asks, and watches James do a full body flinch before looking over his shoulder.

They lock eyes for a minute, Keith questioning, and James guarded. Finally, James looks down, gripping the weeds in his hands a little tighter.

“I…didn’t think you’d be here today,” James offers as a way of explanation.

Keith doesn’t know what to say to that. Sure, he doesn’t visit the cemetery every day, but this is _his_ Dad.

James stands up and steps away from the grave. “I’ll go now.” He dusts his hands free of weeds and moves to pass, but Keith catches him by the arm.

“Wait. Why are you here? How do you even know about this place?” Keith stares James down, and James glares back. It feels like their old Garrison days all over again.

“Let go,” James says.

“Not until you answer me,” Keith answers, with a mild squeeze to James’ bicep.

James rips his arm out of Keith’s grip. “I got it ok! I won’t run away!”

Keith continues his impassive gaze and raises a brow to say, ‘I’m listening.’

James clicks his tongues and looks away, glowering at something Keith can’t see. His hands ball into fists at his side.

“Shiro told me about your dad, ok?” James starts. “After that fight we had, he pulled me aside and explained why what I said was so hurtful to you. I…knew your family situation was tough from high school, but I didn’t know your mom had disappeared since you were born, and that your dad died a hero and left you alone…”

Keith stays quiet, but runs his hand over his wolf’s head. He had no idea Shiro did that for him.

“I felt like shit after that. No matter how angry I was, what I said was inexcusable. But I didn’t know how to apologize to you, so I let it lay like that. I decided it would be better if I just didn’t bother you anymore.” James pauses, and bites his lip harshly. “But then everything went to hell with the Kerberos mission, and you just _vanished_ after Iverson kicked you out. None of us could find you, and soon everyone gave up looking. I thought you’d be here, so that’s how I found your dad’s grave.”

“But I wasn’t,” Keith answers for him. Keith had been too ashamed to face his father after being kicked out of his one shot at making him proud.

James nods. “I’ve…just been visiting ever since. Thinking I might find you. Cleaning up a bit in the meantime. I don’t know.”

Keith laughs, he can’t help it The ridiculousness of the situation is catching up on him. “Did you think you were serving penance or something?”

James turns his head to glare back at Keith, looking ready to start a fight, but Keith cuts him off.

“What I’m saying is, you don’t have to apologize to me. We were both pretty terrible to each other back then. And we supported each other when it counted. Isn’t that enough?” Keith’s laughter leaves a soft smile on his face.

James deflates, but doesn’t say anything. It might be the way the sun is setting, but Keith thinks he sees a rosy tint on James’ face.

Keith thinks about leaving as the breeze gets stronger and the air gets colder, but James stops him by breaking their silence.

“Is that enough for you?” he asks.

Keith frowns. “What do you mean?”

James mirrors his frown. “To be honest, I never came here to ask for your forgiveness. I spent two years looking for you here, when I spent all of high school teasing you with the rest of the kids, and tormenting you at the Garrison because I was jealous. I bet you think none of this makes sense.”

Keith waits. 

“I saw you as my rival but you probably saw me as some no name jerk. I guess I wanted to find you and drag you back to the Garison to beat you fair and square, but you fall back to Earth as some intergalactic hero. Figures.” James pauses to laugh, but it dies quickly. “I snapped at you during the meeting with General Sanda and I felt bad about it. I wanted to help you and Hunk out to redeem myself, I wanted to impress you on our ground mission, I volunteered to fly you out in my MFE, and now…now I don’t know what to do.”

Keith gets to the point. “What do you want then, James?”

James chews his lip, mulling his answer over. Keith’s wolf starts pawing at the ground impatiently, and Keith soothes him with a scratch behind the ears.

“I know this is a lot to ask, but since you’re coming back to the Garrison, do you think we can start over as friends?”

The look in James’ eyes is so earnest, ‘yes’ is on the tip of Keith’s tongue. But one look at his Dad’s grave has Keith swallowing it down.

“You can’t change the past,” Keith says, and the hope in James’ eyes fades out. “All we can do is move forward.”

James perks up.

“That said,” Keith continues, with a nudge to his wolf, “I’ll need to walk this guy, and I haven’t been around the Garrison or the reconstructed city. Mind showing us around?”

James smiles, and Keith thinks it’s the first time he’s seen it. “Yeah! Want me to give you a ride home too?”

“Sure,” Keith says, and lets James lead them to his Garrison jeep.

James drives with the top down, so Keith has to speak a little louder to give him directions, but he doesn’t mind. Keith likes the wind in their hair, the wide smile on James’ face, and seeing his wolf living it up in the backseat with his tongue out.

Keith thinks he could get used to this.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this fic, please leave a kudos if you enjoyed it! 
> 
> I'm kind of planning to make a jeith/sheith fic series from this, but we'll see if I actually have enough energy to accomplish this lol. Anyway this can completely be read as a stand alone, and maybe if I get enough comments on this I'll write the next part.
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/jellyfishquips)   
>  [tumblr](http://jellyfishfics.tumblr.com/)


End file.
